Chapter 2

  Not only was the hole in his arm not normal, but it felt wrong and like nothing. It just looked like a wound capable of crippling the whole arm, yet William moved his fingers nicely even when he flexed and noticed moving tendons and muscles behind this weird wetness and... well, things.

  He felt this for years, so he got used to it. Dann always mocked him for it—for the losing, mostly, as it was inconceivable and unthinkable.

  The socket was a calm part of his Emblem, connected to his flesh and blood, and it shouldn't vanish under any circumstances unless it was some part of weird Skills or body arts. It was known as a Localization; a place that housed the Emblem, which meant anywhere on the human body. Once there, they wouldn't leave and could only broaden or tighten like fine jewels, accommodating their point until their demise.

  This one was empty, and it wasn't something William ever told anyone besides Dann, who was there where it fell for the first time. He was an orphan. Both of them were, so they had to rely on each other.

  They were survivors who managed to find a footing out there and finally settled in one of the best camps. They saw other settlements Outside, a place where people did not rule. Dann lost his parents ten years ago. William was the same as they never came back, or so he tended to believe. They left him and everything changed, hurting like those dreams that never left him.

  Most of this little escaping about his Emblem was his secret. Dann argued it was better that way since what kind of adult would believe it? For now, it might be the best since they were Outside. Maybe it will change with age and after becoming a proper Walker. It wasn't as if it was a bad thing. Nothing ever happened to this hole or loose Emblem and they experimented with it a lot more than they should.

  It was time to move on, much to Dann's visit that he had yet to finish.

  William paused when he put his Emblem back after a deep breath. The crimson Emblem neatly curled inside his arm, looking as if it was always there. It was perfect. William grunted in discontent because it wasn't a pleasing reconnection.

  “Does it hurt every time?” Dann asked; he had seen this act many times over the years, yet sometimes, it was different. It was his privilege to ask. Emblems were mysterious, so Dann was curious about their reasons. There were no clear cases about this one. Sometimes, William could go months without it leaving; other times it would depart every night. They never caught the escaping with their own eyes. Just an aftermath like today, brought by waking and morning.

  “You ask it often and I am telling you the same answer every time. It is like a small cut made of a hot burning knife, dozens of times more intense and coming like a cut and breath. It sizzles for a couple of seconds. Then, the flame spreads and it feels hot and flowy as if I want to cry and run. Then it is gone and I am fine.” William explained it, pulled a long sleeve over his right forearm, where his Emblem rested. It was at the part with near blood vessels, going deep enough to touch the bones of his arm.

  As he finished, Dann opened the curtains, revealing a shiny day that had been waiting for William for a long time. On the walls and tidy desk, the monsters were revealed in bright sunlight. Grotesque, alien, but weirdly human and natural, they showed reminders of what Dann forced on William.

  “You were at it last night?” Dann inquired.

  “Just to pass the time. You said to take my mind somewhere, so I did. Not sure why; I am not even a good at drawing, but those monsters come and always come. Is it... bad?” William looked at the walls, noticing giant figures and monsters. All shaded kind of rough and in numerous qualities, some were old and rough. He had to remember them so he wouldn't shirk.

  “Nah. They are better then nothing. The last few years were way too peaceful.”

  “You are speaking as if it's a bad thing.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Both of them were old enough. Frankly, Dann was already working in camp Roshwell because he was two years older, while William was different. He always hung around William whenever he could, living close but no longer in the same room. They were family without family, and William's cursed gem in his hand was his privileged status.

  Outside this building was nicer than confinement in these walls. The summer shined over the surviving land while the apocalypse lurked all over the place.

  William lived in a historically significant orphanage. It operated thanks to innumerable people and places that could no longer be sustained due to resources or Darks—the beasts and monsters that came from the Dawn.

  The dangers came with vast numbers, yet camps never ceased to exist. William had seen how people prevailed again and again. He lived through it and remembered the fateful destruction of his last family home where the Incursion ravaged everything. It never happened again. The present camps around the former Canada were more peaceful, even though they moved a little bit more to the north compared to the previous decade.

  William's current home was temporary like any child. Many buildings changed location a lot and some were even straight-up ruined and rebuilt. This orphanage was taking care of young Walkers without families and even regular kids if it couldn't be helped.

  This process wasn't up to the Federation, the greatest land of this hemisphere. It was the leadership of the Roshwell Camp and the main caretaker of this orphanage who did so because the birth of Walkers was too important. Finding them and growing them was tactful, but it was grueling Outside, where their births could happen anywhere.

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  Even if a young Walker was considered irregular, they were still people due to their age limitations. In a broader sense, their Emblems made them worse because they could become fine snacks for Darks of all Ranks, while they couldn't bring out their potential.

  Being left out there, a regular kid wouldn't do much. People knew it. Usually, that was, for they were bearing keys to the future.

  This was why the Federation was bearing the ending prospect of Walker kids, and brought them away at a fitting age, even before the Awakening.

  William was aware of what it meant and knew this place operated not just for the sake of children. A connection to the most significant place in this current era! The Federation was ahead, but one thing was better. The fabled Emblem Academy. A land for Walkers to blossom from a young age.

  The time will come when I will have to make a choice, Mother. I will be a Walker that you must want. William thought, touching his Emblem and stretching the skin around it. It stopped itching, and its flowy interior in its glossy finish never ceased to amaze him.

  It looked like a crimson sea, or... something else. Deeper, perhaps? Like a weird liquid or concoctions made of some sauce? William never figured out how to describe it. It wasn't blood. It wasn't about liquid either. The gloss was the prison and everyone knew it.

  “Looks like a good day is outside, rather than in my hand,” William walked to the only window in his room and stood beside Dann.

  Checking his hand one more time in the shine of the sun, he saw much more glow and flowing lines and waves. It was active or afraid. His Emblem had three shaped flanks, resembling ancient coins that bulged upwards a little. Not sharp, it was polished and in a triangular form, and it had perfect curvature.

  It was a wonder how such perfection could appear via natural pregnancy. Of course, what was special wasn't it by itself. What was inside was considerable as one of the most mysterious essences in this world.

  Dann looked at William's arm once again, before sighing and shaking his head. He realized William didn't care for it all that much, which was weird. He should be more worried if he lost it completely! Alas, this was how William lived with this fact.

  Dann thought, conspiring such a possibility.

  “You almost lost it again,” Dann whined.

  “Nah. This would never leave me, unless... well, it never did and won't. Remember that one time... where was it? Three years ago?”

  “Which time? I don't have that many fingers to count how many problems you've caused.”

  “Excuse me? You messed with me too! Don't forget it. Also, you can count in your mind. Last time I checked, you have all fingers.”

  “Who do you think I am? Some kind of genius?” Dann scoffed at him, obviously aware that the current world had rather harsh conditions for schools and education, but he knew how to count. He could even count and read and make great paintings and sketches. That was because he learned it before becoming an orphan. Others like him never got that chance, since parents were important in this world. Losing them was like being stranded in the rough seas.

  Survival was essential, so people with talent did what they could, and when they couldn't, focusing on other matters was required. It was a collective decision. All camps had many compromises and people in them had to work, or deal with their struggles if they wanted to continue doing so.

  One matter was a step above everyone. Those were Walkers. They were the rulers of the remaining human world and they were also protectors and hope. People looked up to them. Relied on them.

  William sighed and turned away from the sunlight. “It is these Emblems that make us great. Not me.”

  “I know, but what's up with that anyway? Riders of the storms play with it, not because of the storm. Now, it is no car, but I know no young Walkers is losing theirs like you do, or... even adults do. Or... well, it is weird. When it is away, it means.... death or worse. You are not a Dark, are you? Count to three!”

  William chuckled. “Fuck off. Death means stopped-flow, luster, and protection. I get it. Thanks for reminding me how awful am I at being a Walker since I am not even one.” William added what he learned via this orphanage's occasional lessons or their deliberate investigations.

  Walkers had some education before they came of age--especially in the camps under the Federation than in any others. They will become important soldiers. It was compulsory to train and grow.

  “Yeah. You aren't joking with me. Time will show that, of course, and that could turn great. Some die off. Some stays. Why? Don't know.” William continued. “Death of a Walker means Darks. They eat them to get stronger. Me, I mean. I am their meal. Walking and waiting, or...”

  Dann smacked his shoulder. “Don't go there, dude.”

  “Then don't ask me questions that I know how to answer. You know how far this goes! I can learn more things than you. Just the fact that I am speaking about them could give me a troublesome scolding.” William grunted, remembering that some things were outside of the public eye, but Outside wasn't faking it. They knew how nasty things could become here.

  But many didn't know what sort of mess Walkers had to keep with. It was within them and around them, yet some people knew it. It was inevitable like malicious reality, while Darks were worse. His time with Dann after crawling from that rubble and blood, and... seeing the death afterward. It never left their mind or lives.

  They lived and endured it like enduring weeds trying to grow around relentless Dark Fogs.

  Dann was not the lucky one to be like William, but the mere point of befriending a Walker was a great way to go ahead. At least for Dann, the camps weren't that pleasing, so with him around, it was much better.

  William wasn't alone. The orphanage had many orphans. Young Walkers waiting for Awakening were in the minority because they were rare, or already brought away from this place because of some Walkers or Federation. It made sense to most people, yet William remained even if he was around fifteen years old.

  Young Walkers were very close to normal children; it was the Emblem that was the sole discrepancy from the physical standpoint. The more they approached their coming of age, the more things changed. The public didn't know this much, yet history proved curiosity and discovery.

  Even Walkers needed care, as they were regular children at one point. How to approach them, bearing System, Emblem, and powers beyond human imagination? That stuff was problematic, so education was a fine foundation. Combat and military drills were the same, and such significance mattered like cognition and personality.

  Thus, many organizations straight-up adopted young or baby Walkers and raised them somewhere else. However, not every one of them was possible to adopt. Not only was it near impossible to see their talent before Awakening, but it was often wasteful and a pain in the ass because of the sheer scale of Outside. Scattered humanity didn't help as well, or parents who didn't want to lose their babies.

  Such matters made orphanages better, so their duties and contacts for decades lessened some aggravating ideas.

  William was at the stage of leaving, though not because of a choice.